We described passerine nesting in Chickasaw plum (Prunus angustifolia) as related to plum age in north-central Oklahoma during the 2007 and 2008 nesting seasons to better understand the role of plum in bird ecology. We measured properties of nests (height aboveground), nest-supporting stems (height, diameter, age) and nesting stands (age, ...

Knowledge of both the vegetation and soil seed bank of a community is necessary to understand species storage and regeneration potential. Species composition and abundance were assessed in Thomson-Fulton Sand Prairie in northwestern Illinois, U.S.A. Species richness, evenness and floristic quality were greater for the vegetation than the seed bank. ...

Agricultural fields are often overlooked as post-breeding and migratory bird habitat, even though many species use row-crop fields in the northern Great Plains. We monitored bird use, crop and non-crop vegetation characteristics and abundance, and land use around ([less than or equal to] 2.4 km) 35 8-ha Wildlife Conservation Sunflower ...

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus vanus) foraging ecology has long been a focus of study, primarily due to their sap-foraging behavior throughout the year and speculation on how sapsuckers subsist by foraging on dormant host trees during winter. Wintering sapsucker habitat use as related to host tree selection is not clearly defined, ...

Quantification of seed arrival as an ecological flux may improve understanding of patch dynamics and variations in community structure across the landscape. Microsites favorable for germination are continually being created and destroyed in coastal ecosystems, so seed dispersal to multiple patches is essential for survival and growth. In order to ...

The Ozark pocket gopher (Geomys bursarius ozarkensis) has recently been described as a new subspecies of the plains pocket gopher (G. bursarius) inhabiting north-central Arkansas and is considered a "species of greatest conservation need" in Arkansas; therefore, research on spatial use and life-history characteristics were conducted via radio telemetry to ...

Reliable natural water sources often are unavailable for bats in semi-arid regions such as the Texas Panhandle. Metal stock tanks commonly are used to supply water to livestock and are used by bats as a water source. It is unknown how surface area, water level and adjacent vegetation influence use ...

We assessed the distribution of Eastern moles Scalopus aquaticus in relation to loam soils under the hypothesis that the species' Canadian distribution is limited by soil type. We also explore the relationship between mole occurrence and the amount of forest cover at a local (49 m) and landscape (305 m) ...

Survival and cause-specific mortality of eastern spotted skunks (Spilogale putorius) was assessed for a radio-monitored population in the Ouachita Mountains of westcentral Arkansas, USA. We monitored 33 eastern spotted skunks over a 23 mo period. Mean annual survival was 0.354 (0.339-0.368, 95% CI), and survival estimates were similar across age ...

The Big Thicket of Texas has been described as rich in species and a "crossroads:" a place where organisms from many different regions meet. We examine the species richness and regional affiliations of Big Thicket vertebrates. We found that the Big Thicket is neither exceptionally rich in vertebrates nor is ...

It has been hypothesized that variation in shell shape and sculpture in freshwater mussels from streams is related to hydrologic variability. Using quantitative sampling, we found smooth-shelled species were more common in upstream portions of the St. Croix River, Minnesota and Wisconsin, which has coarser substrate while species with sculptured ...

The federally endangered watercress darter (Etheostoma nuchale) is restricted to only five springs within the greater Birmingham (AL) metropolitan area. Restricted range, subpopulation isolation and threats from the urban landscape are the major factors endangering the species. The preferred habitat of E. nuchale has been described as the deeper, slow-moving ...

Lakes and reservoirs often experience sudden increases in macrophyte biomass. These changes have the potential to alter the abiotic environment in ways that affect other species. The American lotus (Nelumbo lutea) is expanding its distribution across portions of North America. N. lutea forms a dense canopy over the shallow margins ...

Cadmium (Cd) activity may vary in flooded soils but the mechanisms underlying these variations have remained conflicting and ambiguous. In this study, a continuous [N.sub.2] bubbling experiment was conducted using a red soil from the subtropical region of southern China to identify factors controlling Cd activity under reductive conditions. The ...

Pasture soils of mainland Australia are routinely sampled to a depth of 100 mm, whereas pasture soils of Tasmania and New Zealand are sampled to a depth of 75 mm. Despite this difference, there are no published studies to allow accurate conversion between the 2 sampling depths. This study was ...

Many estimates have been made of the future likely extent of salinity at regional and national scales in Australia; however, there are few detailed studies of changes in temporal and spatial patterns at catchment scale. This study was conducted in the Wallatin and O' Brien catchments in the low-medium rainfall ...

Gilgais form repeating patterns that seem to be regular to some degree. We have analysed the patterns of gilgais as they appear on aerial photographs of the Bland Plain of New South Wales to discover to what degree they exhibit regularity and to estimate the spatial frequencies of the repeating ...

There are limited datasets which cover the heavy clays found in the Murray floodplain area. To understand the processes associated with the water balance within the Koondrook-Perricoota Forest (KPF), detailed hydraulic and hydrodynamic modelling of the flood inundation patterns and overland flow in the KPF is required. Reliable and accurate ...

Problem statement: The problem of examining this title was caused by building the Lampao Dam. It was the important cause which threatened the ecosystem. Biological diversities and the quantity of water animals decreased, impacting the way of life of fishermen at Ban Sa-at Na Thom, who had to face poverty ...

Problem statement: Features and challenges of the PACS server solutions are elaborated in the context of large scale computing. Approach: Hadoop is a pivotal piece of the data mining renaissance offers the ability to tackle large data sets in ways that weren't previously feasible and clarifies certain functionalities such as ...

Problem statement: In the mid to late 1990s the rise of the internet has led to the development of Peer-to-Peer networks (P2P), which allows for increased and rapid connectivity between individuals and has made the transfer of information and files as simple as clicking a button. Approach: The ability to ...

Although gay, lesbian, and bisexual (GLB) adolescents face many of the same developmental challenges as do heterosexual adolescents, they must also deal with the stress of being part of a stigmatized group. The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which family support and involvement with the ...

In the United States, interest in early childhood development has grown dramatically over the past two decades and continues to expand. Increasing public support for programs and services that address the needs of young children and their families provides numerous opportunities for social work intervention. This article describes three major ...

Children in foster care comprise a population of students at great risk for school failure. The child welfare agency, schools, and home must all work together to provide the services and supports required to achieve better results. The purpose of this study was to conduct focus groups with participants from ...

Although substantial numbers of women seeking Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) report domestic violence, few receive mandated services through the Family Violence Option (FVO).This study used transcripts of interviews between welfare caseworkers and their clients to identify and classify the responses made by workers to client disclosures of abuse ...

Mentoring for youths transitioning out of the foster care system has been growing in popularity as mentoring programs have enjoyed unprecedented growth in recent years. However, the existing empirical literature on the conditions associated with more effective youth mentoring relationships and the potential for harm in their absence should give ...

A critical shortcoming in the existing body of research addressing racial disproportionality in the child welfare system is the lack of inclusion of external stakeholders in attempts to understand and address this issue. This article reports the results of a study designed to develop a deeper understanding of disproportionality from ...

There is a growing practice of adoption services on the Internet with varying degrees of regulation, depending on whether it is domestic infant adoption, public foster care adoption, or international adoption. Regulation is particularly lacking in domestic infant adoptions, with Web sites connecting prospective birth and adoptive parents, sometimes through ...

More than 100 firefighters lose their lives in the line of duty each year; many of these deaths are caused by cardiovascular events and underlying coronary heart disease. In addition, firefighters are at higher-than-normal risk of developing certain types of cancer. To improve health and fitness among its firefighters, the ...

We present a case of a complicated lead extraction and reimplantation of an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) in a young woman with complete transposition of great arteries (CTGA), a cyanotic congenital heart defect in which the aorta and the pulmonary trunk are transposed. The malformation results in two parallel circulations, ...

We present the case of a 57-year-old woman diagnosed with breast cancer and a thyroid mass that was suspicious for cancer. The breast cancer was estrogen and progesterone receptor negative, HER2/neu borderline, with a high proliferative index. Treatment of this cancer took precedence. Nine months later, a total thyroidectomy was ...

Renal artery stenosis and renovascular hypertension are important considerations in patients with hypertension that is difficult to control. The diagnosis may also have prognostic significance for progressive renal disease. The most common causes of renal artery stenosis are atherosclerotic disease and fibromuscular dysplasia. The pathophysiology of renal artery stenosis is ...

An 86-year-old man became a double champion in the European championship for road running in 2009. He won the 10-km road run with a time of 58:01 minutes, setting a new European record for men aged 85 and older. Two days later, he became a European champion in the same ...

Investigator-initiated research in both asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease conducted at the Baylor Martha Foster Lung Care Center has sought to improve management throughout the continuum of respiratory care using a multidisciplinary approach. Respiratory care therapists employed in the primary care setting were shown to improve the quality of ...